What have you been working on since you graduated from the MSEM program?

I recently started a new role at Dentsply Sirona, the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies. As Senior Engineer, Emerging Technology, I focus on upcoming tech, both within the dental industry and beyond. I answer the question, “How can we leverage, commercialize, and bring to market new research and manufacturing trends to benefit our own products?”

I wanted to push myself forward. For engineers, it can be hard to see above daily responsibilities. The MSEM program helped me see the bigger picture and augment my tech skills with how to work with different people. Now I work more effectively with a variety of stakeholders, from executives to frontline team members. And I know how to highlight the benefits of my work and my own value, through the lens of cost savings, resource savings, and future development opportunities.

Has your MSEM program experience helped you at work?

With the Engineering Management program, I learned a breadth of knowledge, not just how to evaluate different technologies. Development, operations, marketing, sustainability, business strategy – they’re all relevant to my role now. Working in emerging tech, I need to factor in all those things on a daily basis when conveying why it’s important for my company to move forward with a particular development. And thanks to the MSEM program, I can do just that.

And what about your former role, as a product manager?

At Zagster, I focused on developing new features, prioritizing requirements, understanding business metrics, and improving efficiency for two web apps. A big challenge as a product manager is that you have to say no to requests more than you say yes. One of the best things about the MSEM program is the people management skills, learning how to have different types of conversations. Thanks to roleplaying, team projects, and other experiences from the MSEM program, I learned how to build trust and earn buy in from various stakeholders even when having difficult conversations.

How else have you been able to apply your MSEM learnings?

I was able to directly apply what I learned while co-founding BeTH, to improve prosthetic device comfort. Making this a viable business opportunity required using the skills I learned from MSEM, including product development and business modeling. As a result, we actually won the Tufts $100k New Ventures competition, which gave us both seed money and validation of all our effort.

What was your favorite aspect of the MSEM program?

With the MSEM program, there’s direct application of what you learn. The very next day, you can go into work and put these skills to use in the real world. It’s everything from leadership to finance to statistical modeling – abilities that complement and enhance an engineer’s tech skill set.

What else made the MSEM program stand out to you?

First, the program caters to working professionals by providing books and even meals before class. And second, the cohort aspect really helped me develop impactful relationships and feed off that shared energy. I learned as much from my peers as I did from my professors.

For additional information about Tufts MS in Engineering Management, MS in Innovation and Management, and Professional Education Courses, visit https://gordon.tufts.edu/programs